Equita being unreasonable - SURPRISED

[Red20]

My girlfriend agreed to pay an outstanding amount to Equita at a rate of £18.00 on a postal order. Upto recently the payments have been manageable for her, however, her money has recently been reduced by £10 per week and the £18.00 payment is now unmanageable. She called them today and asked if this payment could be reduced, the woman on the other end said "No way" and that She was a Manager and the decision was if the payment isnt kept up with then she would hand it over to Enforcement Bailiffs. We live together, the House is solely in my name and all furniture etc is mine. We also have 2 children of 5 and 1 in the house and she is worried about a Bailiff turning up when I am not there but the children are. What can I do to sort this out? Please help.

[victoria_siempre]

Hi red

 

Welcome to CAG.

 

What is the alleged debt for?

 

Colleagues will provide advice.

 

love

 

vic

[Red20]

I think it is for Council tax from a property she lived in about 3 years ago.

[Red20]

I have just spoke to her, and she said she agreed to pay £18.00 per week. I have asked her to get all the relevant papers out so I can have a look at them tonight when I finish work, then hopefully have more information on this to hand.

[victoria_siempre]

OK red

 

Council tax is more serious; and basically it has to be paid but the bandit bailiffs extra charges will be challenged.

 

1. What notices has she been served?

 

2. She might 'phone the original Council for a statement of exactly what is due.

 

More experienced colleagues will advise; but don't panic.

 

x

 

v

[Red20]

I dont know the Notices if any she has been served. I will have a better understanding of it myself later. I understand that the Council Tax has to be paid, but I would rather deal direct with them if possible. Ive done it this way myself previously without a problem, so hopefully there is a way to sort this one out. I will ask her to contact the Council and see if we can get a statement. Thanks.

[Tingy]

What she needs to do is phone the council and find out if they have any Liability Orders against her, if so, for how much and for which years?

 

If they don't have LO's against her they haven't been to court yet, so Equita are speaking from their nether regions. Whether they do or not, make sure she finds out from the council how much in total she now owes and exactly how this is broken down. Make sure she also knows whether she is fully up to date or not with the current year - if not she needs to find out exactly what she owes and from when.

 

It is all able to be sorted, but it won't feel like it to her. I've helped over 20 people this year who've had CT/bailiff problems. Every single one so far has been resolved to the customers satisfaction, so tell her to try not to worry - we're here to help as much as we can.

 

There is no point asking anything else at the moment as councils have their own way of dealing with people who owe council tax - it's called lying! Find out the facts, post them up here and then we will be able to help.

[Red20]

I have asked her about the LO, which she says was received and Equita were given as the company dealing with the matter from now on. The original figure was £370.00. That was of 31st July 2010, it is from a property she rented when living on her own with her daughter in 2007 I think. She has regularly paid the £18.00 per week, but I asked her to contact Equita who have told her that there is £200 remaining and that she has only paid about £80.00 under the arrangement, I am no mathematician but I know that £80.00 from £370.00 isnt £200, unless they have took all their charges from instalments paid and there is £200 left.

 

Is there anyway we can find out from Equita what there charges have been and why? They have never sent a bailiff to the house, and everything was worked out from her receiving the first letter so I am stumped to what is owed and to whom.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Tingy]

Yes, all can be sorted. I've got to go to hospital this morning (as in now!) but will look back later and let you know what to if nobody beats me to it. On the off chance any bailiff does turn up, do not let them in under any circumstances, no matter what they say.

[Tingy]

OK. Several things. Firstly your girlfriend wants to work out how much she has actually paid Equita bailiffs. She knows what is owed to the council now so this next bit is important. No matter what the council say or the bailiffs, do not pay Equita another penny. You can pay the council in two ways, either on line or via their automated telephone system. Don't try to pay at the council as they will lie to you and tell you that they are not allowed to take payments from you.

 

Make sure that from now on your girlfriend pays her £18 a week on exactly the same day, weekly, and it is absolutely critical she does not miss any payments. The automated system will not refuse her payments. The bailiffs won't like you doing this and will probably throw a little bit of a wobbler, so be prepared for this and all the lies and threats that will come with this - if you have any way of recording calls with the bailiffs or recording them if they turn up, do so. Make sure she doesn't leave anything outside that could be levied - if she has a car, park it a couple of streets away. Under no circumstances let the bailiffs in. They will try their best either to push past, say they need the toilet, want to use the phone to phone the office etc.... Don't let them in, full stop.

 

What we are aiming for is for your girlfriend to establish, fairly swiftly, a good payment record with the council. After four or five weeks we'll send an e-mail to the CEO asking them to take the debt back from the bailiffs. Hopefully we'll have enough ammunition by then in terms of illegal charges etc... for them to say yes. The council is vicariously liable with the bailiffs for their behaviour, actions and fees. This means they are both as culpable as each other.

 

Meanwhile get a full breakdown of fees from the bailiffs by sending this:

 

"From:

My Name

My Address

 

To:

Acme Bailiff Co

Bailiff House

 

Ref: Account No: 123456

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to the above account, Can you please provide me with a breakdown of the charges.

 

This includes:

a - the time & date of any Bailiff action that incurred a Fee.

b - the reason for the fee.

c - the name(s) of the Bailiff(s) that attended on each occasion a Fee was charged.

d - the name(s) of the Court(s) the Bailiff(s) was/were certificated at.

e - the date of the Certification.

 

This is not a Subject access request under the Data Protection Act S7 1998 so does not incur a fee of £10. You are obliged to provide this information.

 

I require this information within 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

They have to reply to that. Once you get a reply post up (and pm me) the fees and we'll sort out what is legal and what isn't. Most will be illegal!

 

We'll then take the next step.

[Red20]

I will send the letter today in order to find out where their fees come from, She actually phoned them again and was told by two separate people, 1st phone call that £200 was still owed, 2nd phone call that it would take another 4 months to pay the remainder off. Again £18.00 for 4 months is alot more than the £200 they firstly said was still owing. I will get the letter sent and let you know what comes of it.

 

Thanks again.

[Red20]

I have spoken to my girlfriend about your post, however, she is concerned that if she doesnt pay Equita something then they will turn up at the house when she is home alone with our one year old and force an issue.

 

Please could you advise.

 

Many thanks

 

Red20

[ploddertom]

There is no law that says you have to deal with or speak to a Bailiff. A guaranteed way to upset them is to cease paying any arrangement you may have made with them & instead pay the Council direct using their website or automated phone service, true you may have to allow for some Bailiff fees but at least it lets you pay an amount that is both affordable and sustainable. Have a look in the Bailiff Forum.

 

PT

[Red20]

Hi,

 

I have sent the letter last week, but still not received a reply but I am sure they will within the 14 days. However, My girlfriend has carried on paying Equita the £18.00 at the Post Office as she was uncomfortable when I told her not to pay them any more. Will this hinder the process or will it just be a figure to deduct from the o/s balance?

[The GodMother]

This will hinder the process. If she does not stop paying then they will not take the request seriously. She needs to stop paying NOW. What date did she make first payment?

[The GodMother]

Hang on the debt was allegedly for £370.00 so l am guessing at 34 weekly payment of £18. my calculations makes that £612.00 paid to the bailiffs. Please check your dates and check the figures as l may be wrong, which is a possibility, but this says they OWE UR GF MONEY

 

How l have worked it out is She got the letter and agreed payments on the 31st July. First payment made on 7th August 2010 then up to LAST saturday, 26th March 2011 i have worked out as 34 weeks. Now l have done on the computers calculator 34*1800= 61200. My sums might be wrong but l think u will find your Girlfriend NEEDS TO STOP PAYMENTS AS OF IMMEDIATE EFFECT AS SHE SEEMS TO HAVE OVER PAID THEM.

Edited March 31, 2011 by The GodMother

[Tingy]

Red,

Please trust me on this one. Do not pay Equita anything. Pay the £18 direct to the council via either their automated telephone service or on line. The reason for this is that the bailiffs will take their fees first and your friend will be gutted when having paid £200 she finds the balance has only reduced by £40 or 50. Official bailiff advice firms will advise you do it the other way round. I do it this way round as once the bailiffs realise they are not getting anything anymore, they will visit - you've just got to steel yourself for that and make sure nothing valuable is left outside (like a car).

 

Follow my advice in post #10. I know it's a big ask to ask you to trust a total stranger. Hopefully some of the more established members will vouch for me!

[The GodMother]

Tingy

can u do me a favor and re check my workings out which shows she may have over paid them

 

31st july letter recieved

Guessing at first payment 7th August 2010 - 26th March 2011 = 34 weeks

Weekly payment of £18.00

 

£18.00 * 34 =£612.00

[Tingy]

What you have set out above is exactly what I came up with (including the 34 weeks). If the original LO was for £370 that means Equita have received an extra £242.00.

 

Your friend needs to stop paying full stop. You are sure this is the only LO the council had?

 

Have the bailiffs ever visited your friends house? If so how many times?

 

Phone the council again tomorrow and say you were told they had a LO for £370 - is this correct? Are there any other LO's? How much of the original LO for £370 is still outstanding (this will tell you how much Equita have passed on and how much they have kept).

 

There is no way on this earth that the charges would be anything like close to that. If you can find this information out asap and post up the answers, then I think we can start getting a little bit of revenge for your friend and stir up a few hornet's nests!

[The GodMother]

Oh that £242.00 u can have with interest back. its 8% per year or 0.0022% per day in interest.

STOP PAYING THEM NOW.

The rest can be worked out later but its not going to be easy as it would be per payment of the £18 that has been over paid to the day the letter is done so it could be over £300 or £400 including the interest.

[The GodMother]

Also start to build up evidence the over payments is evidence u need to know when first payment was made a if it was on the 31st july last year that a further £18 you can claim back and further interest.

Other than this the evidence will got towards any complaint, which l strongly advise you make, to the council as they should keep any complaint on file when it comes to renewing there contracts for the collection of unpaid rates and rents.

Also u might wanna consider complaining the the other relivant authorities for bailifs like the courts and who ever regulates them.

 

You can work forwards from there re the payments and when they illegally started taking money from your Girlfriend. even if its just the odd £5 the first week £5 can go a LONG way.

[Red20]

Hi Guys, thank you all for your help with this.

 

She was due to pay another payment today, but I have told her to contact the Council and ask them about the L.O. and also to ask how much has been paid. I think she has been paying since last August although she did keep it from me for a while. No bailiff has ever visited but she was spooked enough with the letter and contacted them direct from the letter from the Council which I certainly wouldnt of done.

 

I have told her not to make any more payments to Equita as she should have the letter with the charges back next week, and I will post the contents as soon as it arrives. Maybe then we can go to the Council and show them the unfair charges and ask for them to take the debt back.

 

One more thing, who should pay back the over charges? Is this Equita? Hope so, would love to wipe a smirk off a Bailiffs face!!!!

[Tingy]

If Equita have never visited her property she will owe the bailiffs nothing. Make sure she gets it in writing from the council that she no longer owes anything so that if Equita do turn up she can show them a copy of the letter (keep the original just in case they throw a wobbler and tear it up!)

[The GodMother]

Equita will have to pay the overpayment back. with interest. Equita may have charged u for letter writing and contacting you but that should not be more that £10 which could be classed as reasonable.

BTW hope your happy with the news of the overpayment. Ur queries in relation to the amount owed and the payments made is what made me look.

[Tingy]

GM - if Equita have charged for letter writing after the debt was actually paid, then she has every right to reclaim that £10 + interest. It isn't reasonable to send letters for a debt that does not exist.